Multipurpose Exercise Machine Utilizing Vacuum Springs

ABSTRACT

A multipurpose exercise machine comprising a compact movable frame, a large diameter pulley and a plurality of novel low friction vacuum springs for generating a force is disclosed. The vacuum springs are comprised of two rigid end pieces that are movable relative to each other. A flexible membrane couples the two rigid end pieces to each other and encloses a hermetically sealed region in between the movable bodies and the flexible membrane. A user operating the machine exerts a force that pulls the two end pieces are apart which forms a vacuum that opposes the motion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most exercise machines utilize weights that rely on gravity to create aforce that the user of the equipment must overcome. This method ofgenerating a force is reliable however it has many drawbacks, includingthe high cost of the raw materials of the weights and the high costs ofshipping the heavy weights.

Most exercise machines utilize weights that rely on gravity to create aforce that the user of the equipment must overcome. This method ofgenerating a force is reliable however it has many drawbacks, includingthe high cost of the raw materials of the weights and the high costs ofshipping the heavy weights.

Many exercise machines also use elastic materials to generate a desiredforce. Unfortunately however, elastic materials degrade over time andthe cost of a sufficient amount of the elastic material to generate alarge force can be high.

It is also known in the prior art to create an exercise machine thatcreates a vacuum to generate a force. Most such exercise machines arecomprised of slidable pistons disposed within a cylinder. As the pistonmoves away from the base of the cylinder a vacuum is created and a forceis generated that pulls the piston towards the base of the cylinder.Rubber gaskets typically surround the piston to create an airtight sealbetween the piston and the cylinder.

This piston and cylinder arrangement works however it has severaldrawbacks. For example, to maintain a seal of sufficient quality to keepair from entering the cylinder the seals around the piston have to bevery tight and thus they generate a lot of friction. This means that theforce of the return stroke will not be as great as the force of theforward stroke. Also any air that does enter the cylinder past the sealsmust be purged from the cylinder. So such devices often utilizeexpensive vacuum pumps to maintain the vacuum in the cylinder.

It has also been disclosed in the prior art to use a bellows likestructure to create a vacuum. Unfortunately, however to make a bellowslike structure withstand the pressure forces created by high qualityvacuum the material that the structure is made from has to be veryrigid. And distorting the rigid material would not give the user of themachine a smooth consistent force that would effectively simulate theworkout a user could achieve using free weights. Furthermore theinventions disclosed in the prior are that utilize bellows likestructures are unable to deliver a constant resistive force to the user.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to create a multipurposeexercise machine that generates a force by creating a vacuum spring thatdoes not have the drawbacks of a slidable piston disposed within acylinder or of a bellows like structure.

Briefly described in a preferred embodiment. The disclosed invention isan exercise machine comprising a compact movable frame, a shaftrotatably mounted on the frame, a large diameter pulley coupled to ashaft, four cams coupled to the shaft, and four novel vacuum springshaving one end coupled to the frame and one end that can be coupled tothe cams via a flexible linkages such as a strap or cable.

The vacuum springs are comprised of two rigid end pieces that aremovable relative to each other. A flexible membrane couples the twomovable bodies to each other and encloses a hermetically sealed regionin between the two end pieces and the flexible membrane. The flexiblemembrane has a concaved shape wherein the bases of the concave arecoupled to the end pieces and the apex of the flexible membrane pointstowards the center of the vacuum spring.

The two end pieces both have dome shaped surfaces in their center. Theapexes of the domes both point in the same direction allowing the domesto interlock with one another and eliminate any open space between thewhen they are in the closed position.

When the end pieces move apart no air is able to move into the spacebetween them and a powerful vacuum is created almost instantaneously.The force exerted by the vacuum on the end pieces is almost constant.However as the end pieces move further apart the geometry of theflexible membrane changes and the tensile force exerted by the flexiblemembrane on the end pieces increases. To compensate for the increasingforce and deliver a smooth constant force to the user, the movable endof the vacuum spring is coupled via a strap to a cam that is integratedinto shaft. The distance between axis of rotation of the cam and thepoint where the cam surface and the strap separate decreases as the camis rotated through the forward stroke. And that distances increases asthe cam is rotated through the reverse stroke.

The four vacuum springs are all made at different sizes so they eachgenerate different resistances. Likewise the sizes of the four cams arealso made in different sizes to match the different stroke lengths ofthe four vacuum springs. One of the vacuum spring and cam combinationsprovides 15 lbs of resistance to the user, another provides 20 lbs,another provides 25 lbs, and the largest spring provides 30 lbs. One ormore of the vacuum springs can be coupled to the cams at any one time.This enables to the user to adjust the resistance of the machine in 5 lbincrements from 15 lbs all the way up to 90 lbs. Other size combinationsare also possible.

The base of the frame is mounted on a hinge that allows the machine totilt about a horizontal axis. The base of the frame of the machine isthen mounted to a foundation that the user can stand on or a bench orseat can be placed on. Two of the disclosed machines are utilized in thepreferred embodiment so that the user can exercise two arms or legs atone time. Also the foundation has multiple mounting locations so thatthe two instances of the machine can be positioned in differentlocations allowing for different types of exercises and to accommodatepeople of different sizes.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent to one skilled in the art from the followingdescription and claims when read in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The technology described herein will be better understood by reading thedetailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawing figures, in which like reference numerals denote similarstructure and refer to like elements throughout, and in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are front views of the vacuum spring used by the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the vacuum spring of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the components of the vacuum springof the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a left side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4B is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4C is a right side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention with the left side plate removed to show the internalcomponents;

FIG. 6 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention with the front plates of the frame removed to show theinternal components;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross sectional views of a cam utilized by thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a complete exercise system utilizing twoinstances of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top view of a complete exercise system utilizing twoinstances of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the two end pieces positioned nextto each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In describing the preferred and alternate embodiments of the presentinvention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, specific terminology isemployed for the sake of clarity. The invention, however, is notintended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and itis to be understood that each specific element includes all technicalequivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish similarfunctions.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, illustrated therein is a front view of avacuum spring 20 used by the present invention in the closed position. Arigid moveable end piece 21 is at the top of the vacuum spring. A fixedrigid end piece 26 is at the bottom. A flexible membrane 25 couples thetwo end pieces together. Two clamps 24 couple the top and the bottom ofthe flexible membrane to the end pieces whereby an airtight seal iscreated between the end pieces and the flexible membrane 25. Anattachment structure 22 protrudes from the movable en piece 21. Theattachment structure 22 is used for connecting the movable end piece toa flexible linkage that is attached to a cam. In this embodiment theattachment structure 22 has three holes in it that will allow threehooks that are attached to a strap to hook onto the attachmentstructure. The moveable end piece 21 also has two guide surfaces 23(only one is visible here) that protrude from it. The guide surfaces 23ensure that the end piece 21 moves only in the desired direction, whichin the case is directly upward from the fixed end piece 26. This isnecessary because

Referring now to FIG. 1B, illustrated therein is a front view of thesame vacuum spring 20 in FIG. 1A. However in FIG. 1B the vacuum is inthe open position as the two end pieces 21 and 26 have been pulled apartand a vacuum has been created in the region between the end pieces andthe flexible membrane 25. Thus the atmosphere is now exerting a force onthe two end pieces 21 and 26 and the flexible membrane 25 that pushesthe two end pieces toward each other.

Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated therein is a side view of thevacuum spring 20.

Referring now to FIG. 3, illustrated therein is a cross-sectional viewof the components of the vacuum spring 20 of the present invention. Herethe dome shaped structures that make up the two interlocking end pieces21 and 26 are clearly visible. The interlocking surfaces of the endpieces 21 and 26 could simply be flat surfaces, however this designwould be very inefficient as much more material would be required toenable a flat surface to withstand the pressure forces exerted by theatmosphere than a dome shaped surface would. The dome also transfers theforces exerted on the movable end piece to the center where theattachment structure is.

Also clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 are the two base ends 27 of theflexible membrane 25 and the apex 28 of the membrane 25 that loopsaround the membrane and points toward the center of the vacuum spring20. Also shown are two high tensile strength filaments 29 that areembedded into the flexible membrane. A large number of these filamentscan be embedded into the membrane. They are oriented parallel to eachother and traverse the membrane 25 from one base end 27 to the otherthrough the apex 28 of the membrane 25. They transfer pressure forcesexerted by the atmosphere on the flexible membrane 25 to the end pieces21 and 26.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is a hole 31 in the middle of the end piece 26 anda one-way valve 32. The hole and the valve can be used to purge any airthey may leak into the vacuum chamber out of the chamber. This featureis not necessary for the spring to operate however it would be useful ifany air ever leaks into the vacuum spring 20.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, illustrated therein is a side view of apreferred embodiment of the present invention 1. A handle 2 is attachedto a cable 3. A top handle 4 attaches to the top of the invention 1 sothat it can be easily moved. A left side wall 5 covers the side of theinvention 1 and comprises part of the frame of the invention. Two knobs6 (only one is visible here) protrude from the front of the invention.There are there so that the cable 3 can be wrapped around them when themachine is not in use. Four force selection knobs 15 protrude from theside wall 5. They are used to engage or disengage the four vacuumsprings used by the invention. They operate by being pulled slightlyoutward and then slid from one side to the other.

A base 7 is positioned beneath the frame. A hinge 8 couples the bottomof the frame to the base 7. The hinge 8 allows the frame to tilt about ahorizontal axis so that the user of the invention can pull the cable 3in multiple directions. Two springs 10 (only one is visible here) arepositioned on both sides of the hinge 8 and keep the exercise machinecompletely upright when no force is exerted on it.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, illustrated therein is a front view of thepresent invention. Here the front of the large diameter pulley 9 isvisible. The cable 3 is wrapped around the pulley 9. The large diameterpulley 9 is sufficient in size to allow the uses to complete a stroke ofan exercise without rotating the pulley more than 360 degrees. Theenables the cams utilized by the invention to work properly.

When a user pulls on the handle 2 the pulley rotates and provides aresistance to the user that opposes his motion. However on the returnstroke the pulley pulls the cable away from the user and effectivelysimulates a workout that can be achieved with free weights. The arrow 11shows the additional range of motion provided by the hinge 8.

Referring now to FIG. 4C, illustrated therein is a right side view ofthe present invention. Here the side of the large diameter pulley 9 isvisible. The arrow 12 shows the additional range of motion provided bythe large diameter pulley 9. The combined degrees of freedom of motionprovided by the hinge and the pulley make the invention 1 very flexibleand useful for a large number of exercises.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated therein is a left side view of apreferred embodiment of the present invention with the left side plateremoved to show the internal components. A rotatable shaft 16 is mountedon bearing in the center of the frame. Four rtraps or flexible linkages31 are attached to cams that are machine into the shaft. The other endsof the four straps are connected to hook structures 32. The hookstructures have three prongs that protrude from them and can engage theholes on the vacuum spring attachment structures 22. Eight guide posts30 protrude from the side of the frame and are positioned next to theguide surfaces 23. These guide posts ensure that the movable ends of thevacuum springs move only in the desired direction.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrated therein is a front side view of apreferred embodiment of the present invention with the front plates ofthe frame removed to show the internal components. However only two ofthe four vacuum springs 20 are shown for the sake of clarity. Twoelastic ropes 17 traverse the frame from the right wall to the hookstructures 32 and then to the force selection knobs 15. When the forceselection knobs 15 are slide back and forth, the hook structures 32slide back and forth and the prongs of the hook structures engage anddisengage the attachment structures of the vacuum springs 20.

Referring now to FIGS. 7A and 7B, illustrated therein are crosssectional views of a cam 34 utilized by the present invention. The cam34 is machined into the shaft 16. A flexible linkage 31 is attached tothe cam via a mechanical fastener 35. The arrow in FIG. 8A shows thedirection that the cam will rotate during the forward stroke. The arrowin FIG. 8B shows the direction that the cam will rotate during thereverse stroke.

Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrated therein is a front view of acomplete exercise system utilizing two instances of the presentinvention. Two of the exercise machines 1 are attached to a foundation43. The only difference between the two machines 1 is that the pulleysare mounted on different sides. The foundation has multiple points wherethe exercise machines 1 can be positioned so that the user can perform ahuge range of different exercises. The exercise machines 1 can also berotated in different directions about a vertical axis so that even moreexercises can be performed.

A bench 40 can be positioned on top of the foundation 43 so thatexercises like bench presses can be performed. The bench also has twoattachment structures 41 that the bases of the exercise machines 1 canbe mounted on. Footrests 42 also protrude from two of the benches legsfor use in exercises like seated lat rows.

Referring now to FIG. 9, illustrated therein is a top view of a completeexercise system utilizing two instances of the present inventionpreviously illustrated in FIG. 8. Also visible here is a plurality ofmounting holes 44 where the exercise machines 1 can be positioned on.The attachment structures 41 that are mounted on the bench 40 also havemounting holes.

An optional leg curl attachment could be added to the bench. And one orboth of the exercise machines 1 could be drivenly connected to the legcurl attachment. One or more of the mounting holes in at the top middleof the foundation could be uses for the purpose.

Referring now to FIG. 10, illustrated therein another cross-sectionalview of the two end pieces wherein they are positioned right next toeach other to show how are gaps between them are eliminated.

Of course a huge number of alternative embodiments of the presentinvention could also be created. In one alternative embodiment adhesivescould be used rather than a mechanical fastener to couple the membraneto the end pieces. Also an enormous number of different configurationscould be used to engage the vacuum springs could be employed. Forexample the user could connect the hooks to the movable ends of thevacuum springs manually. In another embodiment the components of theframe and the stationary end pieces of the vacuum springs could beintegrated into one solid piece. Furthermore all of the vacuum springscould be permanently attached to the cams and valves could be used tocontrol air into and out of the vacuum springs. The valves could beopened to essentially eliminate the resistance created by the vacuumsprings. Also the fixed end pieces of the vacuum springs could bewelded, bolted, clamped, etc. to the frame. Also the shaft, cams andpulley could all be created from one solid piece of material.Additionally, the multiple filament segments used in the flexiblemembrane could be made from one long filament that is looped back andforth from one base of the membrane to the other wherein the segments ofthe filament are still oriented parallel to each other. A guard to coverthe pulley could extend outward from the frame.

Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the technology describedherein, it should be noted by those skilled in the art that the withindisclosures are exemplary only, and that various other alternatives,adaptations, and modifications may be made within the scope of thetechnology described herein. Accordingly, the technology describedherein is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein,but is limited only by the following claims.

1. A multipurpose exercise machine comprising: a frame, a plurality ofvacuums spring comprising; a. two substantially rigid end pieces havinginterlocking surfaces in their center that substantially eliminate anyopen space between them when positioned next to each other, b. aflexible membrane forming a closed loop and having two ends and aconcave shape with the apex of the concave pointing generally toward themiddle of the loop, c. a means for coupling the two ends of the flexiblemembrane and the two end pieces together whereby an air tight seal isformed between the end pieces and the flexible membrane, and wherebywhen the two end pieces are pulled apart a vacuum is formed in theregion in between the two end pieces and the flexible membrane whichopposes the motion of the two end pieces moving apart and assists themotion of the two end pieces when they move toward each other, a meansfor attaching one end piece of each vacuum spring to the frame, arotatable shaft mounted on the frame, a large diameter pulley coupled tothe shaft, a plurality of flexible linkages, a plurality of cams coupledto the shaft having an attachment for the flexible linkages and havingan outside surface whose distance from its axis of rotation to the pointwhere the flexible linkage separates decreases when the pulley isrotated through a forward stroke and increases when the pulley rotatesthrough a reverse stroke, a foundation for mounting the frame on, adevice for attaching the frame to the foundation, a cable for wrappingaround the large diameter pulley whereby a user can pull on the cableand force the pulley to rotate.
 2. The exercise machine of claim 1having a valve means for purging air out of the interior of the vacuumspring.
 3. The exercise machine of claim 1 wherein the end pieced of thevacuum spring have interlocking dome shaped structures for efficientlyabsorbing pressure forces.
 4. The exercise machine of claim 1 whereinthe flexible membrane of the vacuum spring that is comprised of both anelastic material and a plurality of high tensile strength filamentsegments that are aligned parallel to each other and traverse theflexible membrane from one base to the other whereby tensile forcesexerted on the flexible membrane are transferred to the end pieces. 5.The exercise machine of claim 1 wherein at least two of the vacuumspring are positioned on generally opposite sides of the shaft wherebythe forces exerted on the shaft partially cancel each other out andreduce the forces exerted on the bearing supporting the shaft.
 6. Theexercise machine of claim 1 having a hinge between the bottom of theframe and the base of the machine whereby the machine can tilt about ahorizontal axis.
 7. The exercise machine of claim 1 wherein the frame ismounted on top of a bearing whereby the frame can rotate about avertical axis.
 8. The exercise machine of claim 7 wherein the base ishas a locking device to prevent the frame from rotating about a verticalaxis.
 9. An exercise machine comprising at least two of the exercisemachines of claim 1, a foundation to support the weight of a user and atleast two devices for attaching the two bases of the two exercisemachines to the foundation.
 10. The exercise machine of claim 9 whereinthe pulleys of the exercise machines of claim 1 are on opposites sideswhereby both pulleys face inward toward the middle of the foundation.